Obi consoles bishops, Ortom, others over church killings

The former Governor of Anambra, Peter Obi, has consoled the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria; the Governor of Benue State, Dr. Samuel Ortom, and the entire people of the state as well the families of the priests and other faithful killed in the attack in the Church.

He also regretted that the dust raised by the church killings was yet to die down when the ugly news of the bombing of Chief Nnia Nwodo’s house was broken. Obi consoled Nwodo for the misfortune, which he described as the “the misfortune of the country”.

The former governor lamented that the spate of killings and bombing were classical case of the desecration of the human life and very bad narrative about Nigeria.

“I was attending an international event in London when a highly-placed British official that was at a conference with me showed me the news as published on social media. Though I felt humiliated being shown such news by a non-Nigerian, nonetheless, I Immediately called home and confirmed it. The Briton, even though he was most courteous, told me the impression such killings have on international community. He said that nobody would like to invest in a country with such proclivity for taking of lives without compunction,” Obi said.

Condemning the killing, which he observed appeared to be going out of control, he called on the government to act quickly and seriously to stop it, which he noted would be scary to even local investors and injurious to Nigeria’s economy. “Besides,” Obi said, “it negates the fundamental freedom of worship, association and movement and questions our unity as a country.”

To those Nigerians promoting the culture of death and divisiveness, Obi, while encouraging Nigerians to be vigilant, called on them to have a rethink asking rhetorically: “If we destroy our country, are we going to move over to Niger Republic?”